January 23, 2023 06:03 pm | Updated Jan 24, 2023 12:29 AM IST – Thiruvananthapuram
The Left Democratic Front (LDF) government in its policy agenda for the 2023-24 financial year, set out in Governor Arif Mohammad Khan’s address, listed contentious political and constitutional issues deemed important for the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-led central government. There was softness all around. Reached the assembly at the beginning of the budget session on Monday.
The government also used the governor’s policy address to resume its stated vision of a modern and developed Kerala bound together by technological progress, social welfare and scientific temper.
Mr. Khan’s speech appeared to be a mixed manifesto of the major programs announced by Kerala. It is a comprehensive medical insurance scheme covering an estimated 30 lakh serving and retired employees of the state government, liberation of 64,000 poor families, land and housing for all, geriatric welfare, women empowerment, people-centric technology-driven e-governance, construction was based on. A higher education based knowledge economy, job creation and attracting global investment.
The policy statement appears to be a mild and non-criminal swipe at the Centre’s alleged violations on fiscal and legislative federalism.
For one, Mr Khan read, “Recent measures to reduce the borrowing limits of states constrain the scope of their intervention in the health, education and infrastructure sectors. While fiscal discipline has to be scrupulously implemented, there cannot be different norms for the State Governments, which are not applicable to the Central Government.
The comment sounded muted in comparison to the LDF’s previous criticism of the Centre’s move to lower the borrowing limits of states by factoring in off-budget borrowings by government entities into the public debt account without applying the same criteria as the Centre’s borrowing limits .
Mr Khan also took note of the alleged jurisdiction of the Center in the law-making process, somewhat lightly. “Intrusion into the legislative sphere of the states does not bode well for a cooperative federal system,” he said.
The government’s criticism of the Raj Bhavan’s “refusal” to sign bills passed by the Assembly was reflected in the policy address into law. “My government is committed to the constitutional value that the intention of the legislature should be given effect to as law,” Mr Khan said.
The Leader of the Opposition termed the policy address as untrue, devoid of fresh ideas and devoid of any meaningful criticism of the Centre’s policies. “The government has entered into a pact with the Governor, whom he had termed as an RSS agent,” he said.